"Lilligant, there's another sharp turn up ahead. You remember, right?"
'Ah, yes.'
"I'll use Magnet Rise again!"
'Ah... okay!'
On the sharp turn, Magnet Rise was less stable than before and quite risky. They landed in the end, but at least they had clawed back half a second.
Considering Lilligant's poor condition, Magnet Rise might have saved them even more time than that.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Flower Crown is back!"
"Across the starting line!"
"Oh, eight minutes and thirty-one seconds. That's about the same as his time in the White Cape Qualifying Race."
"This is the standard he should be performing at. Unfortunately, the mistake on the first lap really hurt his average."
Their final average lap time was eight minutes and thirty-six seconds, seven seconds slower than in the previous Qualifying Race.
After advancing to the second round, the Drivers had already gone through one round of elimination. The same average time would certainly place them farther down the rankings, let alone with Lilligant's mistake.
Out of twenty Drivers, Flower Crown's final grid position was twelfth, toward the back of the middle.
"The second round really is something. That's terrifying. Seven seconds slower, and we dropped eight places."
Sipping his drink, Shen Qi was actually quite satisfied.
With the Driver in poor form, the copilot's handling had still recovered a good portion of the time lost on the first lap. He really ought to give himself a round of applause and praise Dodo while he was at it.
As for advancing...
They had made it to the second round carrying the Luxury Resort's advertising. As long as they finished without crashing, Akiho's advertising money would not have been wasted.
"Lilligant, get ready for the main race."
'Shen Qi...'
"I'll give it everything I have, just like before, and fight